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REMINISCLNCES  OF  CATHOLICITY 
NORTH  CAROLINA 

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THE  LIBRARY  OF  THE 

UNIVERSITY  OF 

NORTH  CAROLINA 


THE  COLLECTION  OF 

NORTH  CAROLINIANA 

ENDOWED  BY 

JOHN  SPRUNT  HILL 

CLASS  OF  1889 


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Cardinal's  House, 

Baltimore,  Md.,  February,  1891. 

Gentlemen  and  Friends  of  the  United  States  Catholic 
Historical  Society  of  New  York  : 

Having  been  invited  through  your  Secretary,  Mr. 
Marc  F.  Vallette,  to  furnish  some  matter  of  interest  to  your 
admirable  Society,  and  taking  up  the  subject  of  North  Caro- 
lina, as  suggested  by  Dr.  John  Gilmary  Shea,  it  is  a  source 
of  pleasure  to  me  to  give  the  following  hasty  sketch,  em- 
bodying some  Reminiscences  of  Catholicity  in  that  state. 

In  calling  up  memories  of  my  labors  in  that  Vicariate, 
as  its  first  Vicar  Apostolic,  I  am  carried  back  to  the  early 
years  of  my  Episcopacy,  nearly  a  quarter  of  a  century  ago. 
My  mind  reverts  to  scenes  there  as  dear  to  my  heart  as  a 
first-love,  to  scenes  in  fields  of  labor  rich  with  spiritual 
harvests. 

It  was  in  the  Second  Council  of  Baltimore,  held  A.  D. 
1866,  and  presided  over  by  the  zealous  Mt.  Rev.  Dr.  Martin 
J.  Spalding,  D.  D.,  Archbishop  of  Baltimore,  as  Apostolic 
Delegate,  that  North  Carolina  was  proposed  to  the  Holy  See 
for  a  Vicariate.  The  National  Council,  naturally  enough, 
took  into  warm  consideration  the  religious  state  of  the  South; 
for  its  people  had  just  emerged  from  the  horrors  of  a  civil  v 
war,  and  were  in  a  condition  of  mind  and  heart  to  welcome 
the  consolations  of  religion. 

After  a  period  of  more  than  twenty  years  I  am  more  than 
ever  convinced,  that  the  erection  of  the  Vicariate  of  North 
Carolina  was  a  special  direction  of  the  Holy  Ghost — that  the 


time  had  come  when  the  God  of  all  consolation  was  to  pour 
out  his  graces  on  the  souls  of  men,  enlightening  their  minds 
with  the  light  of  the  true  faith.  The  Southern  people  had 
been  in  a  measure  prepared.  For  in  the  late  war  almost  the 
entire  male  population  of  the  South  had  been  marshalled 
into  armies  (North  Carolina  furnished  50,000  men,)  which,  in 
camp  and  field  and  hospital,  were  enabled  to  behold  the 
Catholic  Church  in  her  most  beautiful  form  of  divine  Char- 
ity. Many  of  these  soldiers  who  had  been  taught  to  hate 
the  Church,  were  won  by  the  exhibition  of  her  charity. 
They  returned  to  their  homes  with  sentiments  of  respect  and 
reverence,  and  prepared  somewhat  to  receive  instruction  at 
the  hands  of  the  priests. 

Having  been  consecrated  Vicar  Apostolic  of  North  Caro- 
lina, I  at  once  painfully  experienced  the  poverty  and  isolation 
of  the  charge.  Humanly  speaking,  I  felt  myself  sent  out 
alone  to  a  strange  country  among  strangers,  to  a  state  where 
few  Catholics  were  to  be  found,  where  there  was  little  or  no 
immigration,  and  none  to  be  expected.  My  clergy  num- 
bered but  two  priests,  the  Rev.  Mark  S.  Gross  and  the  Rev. 
Lawrence  P.  O'Connell.  I  could  only  say  to  myself  and 
to  them  ;  "Deus  providebit."  In  the  Vicariate  everything 
had  to  be  created.  Missionary  priests  had  to  be  procured 
(and  they  were  not  to  be  had  for  the  asking  for  North  Caro- 
lina;) schools  to  be  established;  missions  organized,  and  the 
people  at  large  instructed  in  the  principles  of  the  Catholic 
Faith.  In  the  midst  of  these  difficulties  I  realized  the  worth 
of  the  admirable  "Society  for  the  Propagation  of  the  Faith," 
which  annually  remitted  me  pecuniary  aid  for  the  work  of 
the  Vicariate.  I  can  scarcely  see  how  the  work  could  have 
gone  on  without  such  aid.  The  certainty  of  the  annuity  was 
a  relief  to  my  mind,  whilst  it  gave  a  stimulus  to  fresh  un- 
dertakings as  well  for  the  conversion  of  the  people,  as  for 
the  preservation  of  the  faith  among  the  few. 

I  was  warmly  encouraged  in  my  trying  vocation  by  His 
Grace,  my  dear  friend,  Archbishop  Spalding,  who  promised 
to  aid  me  in  my  difficulties,  and  I  was  also  indebted  to  the 
late  Rt.  Rev.  Bishop  Patrick  N.  Lynch  for  the  services  of  the 


Rev.  H.  P.  Northrop  (now  the  Bishop  of  Charleston,)  who 
lived  in  Newberne,  and  who  attended,  for  the  most  part  at 
his  own  expense,  many  missions. 

At  the  time  of  my  taking  charge  it  was  estimated  that 
there  were  not  more  than  eight  hundred  Catholic  souls  in 
the  state,  scattered  amidst  a  population  of  fourteen  hundred 
thousand  Protestants.  North  Carolina  has  about  the  same 
extent  of  territory  as  England.  This  was  the  wide  field  which 
myself  and  three  priests  were  to  travel  over,  ministering  to 
the  spiritual  wants  of  the  widely  separated  Catholics,  preach- 
ing in  season  and  out  of  season,  in  Church,  house,  Meeting 
House,  Masonic  Lodge,  Lecture  Halls,  and  in  open  air,  to  large 
congregations,  curious  to  hear  a  Roman  Catholic  divine. 

I  was  not,  however,  the  first  bishop  in  the  field.  A  great 
man  had  gone  before  me,  the  learned  and  eloquent  Bishop 
England,  whose  diocese  embraced  the  states  of  Georgia  and 
the  two  Carolinas.  The  most  remote  Catholic  settlements 
received  his  episcopal  visitation.  He  was  preeminently  the 
pioneer  bishop  of  the  Southern  states.  His  example,  in  sus- 
taining every  labor  of  mind  and  body,  edified  and  supported 
me  in  my  charge.  In  a  region  eminently  Protestant  he  cham- 
pioned the  Faith  with  tact  and  power.  None  could  stand  be- 
fore him.  The  most  learned  felt  honored,  even  in  defeat  by 
Bishop  England.  His  talents  and  attainments  were  truly 
great ;  but  more  admirable  far  was  his  apostolic  zeal  for  the 
conversion  of  souls.  It  inspired  him  to  disregard  all  labor, 
to  endure  every  trial. 

I  set  out  for  my  Vicariate  in  company  with  Archbishop 
Spalding.  His  Grace  was  full  of  hope  for  the  conversion  of 
the  Southern  people  a  hope  not  quite  disappointed  in  his  day, 
and  to  whose  more  complete  fulfilment  influences  are  now 
leading.  Our  party  arrived  in  Wilmington  N.  C.  on  Friday 
evening  October  30th,  1868.  We  were  met  at  the  depot  by 
the  Rev.  M.  S.  Gross  in  company  with  a  Catholic  delegation. 
His  Grace,  the  Archbishop,  and  myself,  and  the  Rev.  B.  J. 
McManus,  of  Baltimore,  were  escorted  to  the  home  of  Col.  F. 
W.  Kerchner,  the  most  prominent  Catholic  of  the  city,  who 
entertained  us  for  the   night     My  little  flock  welcomed  us 


with  sentiments  of  the  greatest  joy;  and  I  reciprocated  the 
warm  attachment  then  displayed,  and  ever  afterwards  en- 
tertained, by  the  Catholics  of  Wilmington.  Mgr.  James  A. 
Corcoran  had  been  their  devoted  pastor  for  years,  but  had 
just  then  left  for  Europe,  to  take  part,  with  other  eminent 
theologians,  in  preparing  for  the  Vatican  Council.  The 
company  present  at  my  installation  was  His  Grace,  Arch- 
bishop Spalding,  the  Rev.  Dr.  T.  Birmingham  V.  G.,  and  the 
Rev.  Dr.  J.  J.  O'Connell  (both  of  the  Charleston  Diocese,) 
Rev.  H.  T.  Northrop,  Rev  J  P.  O'Connell,  and  the  Rev.  M. 
S.  Gross.  I  remember  that  the  audience,  composed  of  the 
most  intellectual  people  of  the  town,  was  large  and  most  re- 
spectful. The  Catholic  congregation  numbered  about  four 
hundred  souls.  His  Grace  did  honor  to  his  pulpit  reputation 
by  a  discourse  of  an  hour's  duration  on  the  unity  of  the  Church. 
I  preached  at  Vespers  on  the  Communion  of  the  Saints,  the 
Feast  of  the  day. 

I  remember,  on  the  Saturday  after  my  arrival,  wit- 
nessing, from  the  porch  of  Col.  Kerchner's  residence,  a 
political  torch-light  procession  of  colored  people,  I  learned 
that  this  element  was  the  leading  political  factor  in  the  state, 
as  it  was,  at  the  time,  in  the  South  generally.  While  right 
thinking  men  are  ready  to  accord  to  the  colored  citizen  all 
to  which  he  is  fairly  entitled,  yet  to  give  him  control  over  a 
highly  intellectual  and  intricate  civilization,  in  creating  which 
he  had  borne  no  essential  part,  and  for  conducting  which  his 
antecedents  had  manifestly  unfitted  him,  would  be  hurtful 
to  the  country  as  well  as  to  himself. 

After  the  departure  of  the  Archbishop  and  Father 
McManus  I  was  left  to  feel  the  loneliness  of  my  situation, 
more  trying  than  its  material  poverty.  My  sole  clerical 
companion  in  Wilmington  was  the  Rev.  M.  S.  Gross.  Our 
accommodations  here  (we  had  no  house)  consisted  of  two: 
small  bed-rooms  and  two  other  small  rooms,  one  for  an 
office  and  the  other  for  a  library,  attached  to  the  rear  of  the 
little  church.  But  my  work  ahead  left  no  leisure  to  breed 
home-sickness.  Everything  had  to  be  started  ;  missions  in- 
augurated, schools  established,  priests  to  be  had,  conversions 


to  be  made.  The  last  item  was  the  first  great  work,  one 
which  called  for  extensive  travelling-,  and  much  elementary 
preaching.  I  started  out,  with  Father  Northrop,  to  visit 
Newberne,  and  his  district  of  a  hundred  miles  and  more  in 
extent.  At  Newberne  we  found  a  congregation  of  seventy- 
five  souls.  Prominent  among  them  was  the  Hon.  Judge 
Mathias  Manly,  son-in-law  to  Judge  Gaston.  It  is  asserted 
sometimes,  by  the  enemies  of  the  Church,  that  a  good  Catho- 
lic cannot  be  a  good  American  citizen.  Gaston  disproves 
so  wanton  and  gratuitous  an  assertion.  He  was  the  best 
citizen  and  the  most  learned  judge  North  Carolina  ever 
had.  Permit  me  here  a  moment's  digression,  to  say  a  word 
in  reference  to  this  renowned  Carolinian.  There  is  no 
man  whose  memory  is  more  tenderly  enshrined  in  the 
hearts  of  the  people  of  North  Carolina  than  that  of 
Judge  Gaston.  His  name  is  a  household  word  in  every  town 
and  hamlet  throughout  the  old  North  State.  His  parents 
were  married  in  Newberne  about  120  years  ago.  His  mother 
was  a  pious  English  Catholic  lady.  His  father  warmly  es- 
poused the  cause  of  American  Independence,  and  on  that 
account  he  was  an  object  of  special  hatred  to  the  British  and 
the  Tories.  When  the  English,  aided  b)r  Tories,  made  an 
attack  on  Newberne  in  1781,  the  first  object  of  their  assault 
was  the  elder  Gaston,  who,  with  his  wife  and  two  little 
children,  fled  to  the  river  in  hopes  of  escaping  from  his  pur- 
suers. He  jumped  into  a  boat,  leaving  his  wife  and  children 
on  the  shore.  His  trembling  wife  fell  on  her  knees  and 
begged  the  soldiers  to  spare  the  life  of  her  husband,  and 
not  make  her  a  widow  and  her  children  orphans.  But,  heed- 
less of  her  entreaties,  they  fired  over  her  head,  and  slew  him 
before  her  eyes  and  those  of  his  children.  Hence  it  was 
afterwards  beautifully  said  of  young  Gaston  that  "  he  was 
baptized  to  liberty  in  his  father's  blood." 

From  that  moment  Mrs.  Gaston  spaired  no  pains  m  the 
religious  and  moral  training  of  her  children.  She  was  then 
perhaps  the  only  Catholic  lady  in  Newberne.  Her  son  lived 
to  fill  one  of  the  highest  positions  in  the  state,  that  of  Judge 


6 

of  the  Supreme  Court  of  North  Carolina,  to  which  he  was 
elected  in  1834. 

Up  to  the  year  1835,  a  clause  remained  in  the  constitu- 
tion of  North  Carolina,  forbidding  a  Catholic  to  hold  certain 
important  offices  of  trust.  Judge  Gaston  was  a  member  of 
the  Convention  which  that  year  framed  a  new  state  Constitu- 
tion. He  delivered  a  speech  in  favor  of  Catholic  emancipation, 
which,  for  theological  learning,  soundness  of  argument,  con- 
summate tact,  and  sublime  eloquence,has  seldom  been  equalled 
in  the  halls  of  legislation.  By  that  speech,  unaided  and  alone, 
he  struck  the  fetters  off  the  feet  of  his  Catholic  brethren,  and 
established  religious  liberty  in  North  Carolina. 

Judge  Gaston  was  always  fond  of  referring  to  his  mother, 
and  he  attributed  to  her  not  only  the  heritage  of  his  faith,  but 
also  those  high  moral  qualities  which  endeared  him  to  his 
fellow  citizens. 

From  Newberne,  accompanied  by  Father  Northrop,  we 
visited  the  distant  out-missions,  preaching  and  administering 
confirmation  at  various  posts.  Our  visits  seemed  to  cheer  the 
faith  of  every  household.  At  Newberne  I  learned,  with  grate- 
ful feelings  of  the  daring  and  timely  intereference  of  a 
Capt.  McNamara,  of  the  Federal  Army,  whereby  a  Catho- 
lic Church  was  saved  from  desecration.  Riding  past  the 
edifice  and  observing  a  body  of  persons  about  its  door  and 
apparently  in  charge  of  it,  he  asked  their  business.      .{ 

"We  have  occupied  this  church  for  school  purposes," 
said  one  of  them,  advancing  and  speaking  for  the  rest. 

"Where  is  your  authority?"  demanded  the  Captain. 

"Our  authority,"  the  school-mistress  replied,  "is  that  of 
the  United  States  Government  and  of  Jesus  Christ." 

"Well,"  rejoined  the  Captain,  "that  is  pretty  good  au- 
thority; but,  as  a  Federal  Officer,  I  am  wont  to  obey  written 
instructions.  Can  you  show  papers  from  the  sources  you 
have  mentioned  ? 

The  teacher  stood  silent  and  crest-fallen,  when  the 
Captain  added  : 

"As  you  can't  produce  the  papers  my  order  is  that  you 


vacate  this  Church  at  once  ;  and  enter  it  no  more  for  such 

purposes." 

From   Newbcrne  we  visited  Edenton,  where  we  found  a 

large  brick  church,  built  altogether  through  the  untiring 
efforts  of  a  resident  Catholic  lady,  who  solicited  aid  for  the 
purpose.  Here  we  met  the  distinguished  family  of  Judge 
Moore,  at  the  time  late  converts  to  the  faith.  We  had  trav- 
elled hundreds  of  miles  and  the  Catholics  were  few  and  dis- 
tant. Yet  I  could  not  but  remark  the  number  of  very  dis- 
tinguished persons  whom  God  had  raised  up  as  so  many 
lights  in  the  land  to  honor,  to  declare,  and  to  spread  the 
Catholic  Faith.  These  distinguished  Catholics  drew  the  at- 
tention of  the  people  to  the  Church  and  inclined  them  to 
study  its  doctrines. 

A  few  months  later  I  made  my  visitation  to  Western 
North  Carolina,  reaching  first  the  City  of  Charlotte,  whose 
Rector  was  the  Rev.  Lawrence  P.  O'Connell.*  He  was  a 
veteran  in  the  service,  a  well-tried,  faithful  self-sacrificing 
priest,  whom  I  appointed  my  Vicar  General.  He  had  served 
as  a  Chaplain  in  the  army  of  Virginia.  Not  merely  content 
to  minister  to  the  spiritual  wants  of  Charlotte,  Father 
O'Connell,  though  infirm  from  rheumatism,  visited  out- 
missions,  and  labored  zealously  for  the  conversion  of  the 
country  people.  He  had,  near  the  town  of  Concord,  a 
whole  congregation  composed  exclusively  of  converts. 
It  was  a  Lutheran  settlement,  and  a  people  whose  an- 
cestors were  German.  It  happened  that  the  Lutheran 
minister  delivered  a  violent  tirade  in  his  Church  against 
the  doctrine  of  the  Real  Presence.  A  member  present  was 
roused  to  investigate  the  subject.  His  reading  led  him  finally, 
by  the  grace  of  God,  to  abjure  Lutheranism,  and  to  embrace 
the  Catholic  Faith.  The  spirit  of  truth  seemed  to  pour  itself 
out  on  the  hearts  of  the  people.  Religious  investigation  be- 
came wide-spread,  and  family  after  family  were  received  into 
the  fold  of  the  Church.  These  people,  like  many 
others  in  North  Carolina  simple,  sincere,  and  religious  were 
those  other  sheep  spoken  of  by  our  Lord  whom  He  would 

*Very  Rev.  Father  O'Connell  died  since  this  paper  was  written. 


8 

bring  into  His  fold.  Rev.  Father  O'Connell  was  kept  busy 
instructing  and  baptizing  the  people  of  that  district,  who 
shortly  afterwards  erected  a  church. 

Visiting  Salisbury,  I  became  the  guest  of  the  Fisher 
family,  and  confirmed  the  two  daughters  of  Colonel  Charles 
Fisher,  a  gallant  Southern  Soldier,  killed  in  the  battle  of 
Bull  Run.  The  family  had  become  converts.  I  found  my- 
self, a  Catholic  Bishop,  occupying  the  very  same  room  in 
Col.  Fisher's  residence,  formerly  given  to  Bishop  Ives,  when 
he  was  the  Protestant  Episcopal  Bishop  of  North  Carolina. 
The  Fisher  family  is  one  of  the  oldest  and  most  intellectual 
in  the  State.  The  eldest  daughter,  Frances,  is  the  southern 
writer  known  as  Christian  Meid.  The  family  had  been 
Episcopalian.  Salisbury  has  now  a  Catholic  congregation, 
school-house  and  church.  In  my  visitations  I  could  not  but 
remark,  how  many  Catholic  families,  single  or  in  groups  of 
two  or  three,  were  settled  over  the  state.  Whilst  I  saw  in 
this  isolation  a  danger  to  themselves  (that  is,  to  their  faith,) 
yet  I  saw  also  how  they  were  a  means  for  the  enlightenment 
of  others.  Their  homes  became  little  centres  of  Catholicity 
all  over  the  state.  The  few  zealous  priests  regularly  visited 
them,  sustaining  and  encouraging  the  Catholics,  and  helping 
on  the  work  of  conversion.  Books  of  religious  instruction 
were  in  great  demand.  They  supplemented  the  work  of 
preaching.  The  great  Bishop  England,  on  his  first  visit  to 
a  mission,  little  or  great,  began  to  form  a  library  for  the  dif- 
fusion of  Catholic  truth  among  the  people.  This  medium  of 
conversion  I  fully  recognized.  A  good  book  is  a  powerful 
ally.  The  sermons,  preached  in  the  missions  to  audiences 
almost  exclusively  non-Catholic,  were  particularly  prepared 
for  them,  and  aimed  entirely  at  their  conversion.  Hence, 
they  were  partly  moral  and  partly  doctrinal  appeals  to  the 
heart  and  mind  in  the  interest  of  truth  that  can  save  the 
soul.  At  the  urgent  instance  of  Father  Gross  I  wrote  then 
"The  Faith  of  our  Fathers."  Catholicity  made  such  ad- 
vancement, by  way  of  conversions,  that  places  which  had 
but  one  or  two  families,  and  some  that  had  none,  are  now 


<> 


Catholic  mission  centres,  with  their  congregations,  church 
and  schools. 

It  was  while  I  was  absent  in  Europe  at  the  Vatican 
Council,  in  1870,  that  a  letter  came  through  the  post,  ad- 
dressed "To  any  Catholic  Priest  of  Wilmington,  N.  C." 
The  Rev.  Father  Gross  received  the  letter,  which  was  one 
of  inquiry  about  the  doctrines  of  the  Catholic  Church,  and 
from  Dr.  J.  C.  Monk.  A  correspondence  was  opened  be- 
tween us  after  my  return  from  Rome.  I  recommended 
certain  Catholic  books.  Dr.  Monk  procured  these,  and,  hav- 
ing more  fully  instructed  himself  and  family  in  the  faith, 
he  with  his  household  were  all  received  into  the  Church. 
He  came  to  Wilmington,  after  a  journey  of  nearly  a  hundred 
miles,  by  private  conveyance  and  railway,  to  make  a  pro- 
fession of  faith.  I  baptized  the  family,  and  learned  with  the 
deepest  interest  of  the  circumstances  that  had  led  to  his 
conversion,  and  of  his  hopes  in  regard  to  the  community  in 
which  he  had  lived  all  his  life  as  a  prominent  physician. 

"None  of  the  Protestant  denominations,"  said  he,  "could 
satisfy  me.  Tneir  modern  origin,  their  contradiction  of  one 
another,  their  diverse  constructions  of  the  Bible,  made  me 
lose  faith  in  Protestantism.  I  was  casting  about  for  the  one 
true  Church,  when  by  chance  (as  we  say)  I  came  upon  a  ser- 
mon on  "The  True  Church,"  delivered  by  Archbishop  Mc- 
Closkey,  and  printed  in  the  New  York  Herald.  The  truth 
came  to  me  on  the  wings  of  the  Press.  The  sermon  was  a 
light  from  Heaven.  It  led  me  to  find  the  Church  of  Christ 
in  the  Catholic  Church.  Furthermore,  the  books  of  instruc- 
tion plainly  showed  me  that  it  is  the  Catholic  Church  only 
which  delivers  all  the  truths  of  the  Bible  to  be  believed. 
I  found  the  whole  truth  in  Her." 

This  was  a  very  remarkable  conversion.  The  finger  of 
God  was  here.  Nor  was  this  conversion  to  be  barren  of  re- 
sults. Dr.  Monk  returned  home,  after  receiving  my  promise 
of  a  visit  to  his  family.  In  due  time  the  Rev.  Father  Gross 
visited  Newton  Grove,  and  to  a  great  throng  in  the  open  air 
preached  on  the  true  faith.  From  that  time  an  earnest  in- 
quiry  into   the   tenets    of   the    Catholic    Church    sprang   up 


1 0 

among  the  people.  Dr.  Monk  was  a  providential  man  for 
the  diffusion  of  the  faith.  He  was  highiy  respected,  and,  as 
a  physician,  had  access  to  every  family  in  all  that  region. 
His  zeal  to  enlighten  the  people  was  surpassed  only  by  his 
solid  piety  and  good  example.  Possessed  of  means,  he  lib- 
erally aided  in  every  way  for  the  spread  of  the  faith.  A 
few  months  later  I  redeemed  my  promise  by  a  visit  to  New- 
ton Grove.  The  trip  came  near  imperilling  my  life.  I 
remember  it  was  the  month  of  March.  The  day  of  my  de- 
parture opened  with  difficulties.  The  railway  train  left  very 
early  in  the  morning.  Rising  at  four  o'clock,  I  found  the 
weather  cold  and  rainy.  The  carriage  failing  to  call  for  me, 
I  was  compelled,  with  the  help  of  a  boy,  to  carry  my  large 
heavy  valise,  packed  with  mission  articles,  then  the  distance 
of  a  mile  to  the  depot.  As  I  travelled,  northward,  the  rain 
became  a  furious  storm  of  sleet  and  snow.  Reaching  the 
station,  I  found  the  brother  of  Dr.  Monk,  who  had  come  to 
meet  me,  and  on  horseback,  too,  with  axe  in  hand,  to  cut  our 
way  through  the  forests.  For  the  sleet  and  snow  had  covered 
the  country,  and  bowed  to  the  earth,  and  in  many  places, 
across  our  course,  the  pine  saplings  that  grew  in  dense  bodies 
up  to  the  margin  of  the  road.  A  neighbor  was  with  him  to 
take  me  in  his  buggy.  We  started.  It  was  a  journey  to  be 
remembered — a  journey  of  twenty-one  miles  in  the  teeth  of 
wind,  rain,  sleet  and  snow.  After  a  short  exposure  I  was  all 
but  frozen  by  the  violence  of  the  storm  and  the  intense  cold. 
We  had  ridden  a  number  of  miles  when,  to  my  delight,  my 
friend  drew  rein  at  his  own  house.  I  entered  the  hospitable 
door,  and  the  change  was  most  grateful— from  cold  and 
misery  to  warmth  and  comfort. 

In  a  few  moments  the  good  housewife  had  brought  in  a 
hot  bath  for  my  frozen  feet,  and  the  husband  a  supplement 
in  the  wTay  of  a  hot  drink.  The  generous  hospitality  restored, 
in  a  very  short  time,  my  almost  perished  frame.  They  were 
both  strangers,  yet  the  closest  friends  could  not  have  treated 
me  more  kindly.  I  remained  for  dinner,  and,  as  the  weather 
became  clear,  we  proceeded  on  our  journey.  Next  morning 
being  Sunday,  I  celebrated  Holy  Mass  m  Dr.  Monk's  house? 


1 1 


and  preached  there,  later  in  the  day,  to  an  earnest 
audience.  The  religious  interest  was  profound.  It  promised 
to  become,  as  it  truly  did,  a  religious  movement  of  the  whole 
district  towards  the  Catholic  Church. 

Regular  appointments  were  made  for  a  visit  by  the 
priest  •  and,  in  a  short  time,  the  brother  of  Dr.  Monk,  with 
his  family,  embraced  the  Catholic  faith.  The  congregations 
that  met  on  the  occasion  of  the  priest's  visits  to  Newton 
Grove  were  so  large  that  it  became  necessary  to  erect  a  tem- 
porary structure  of  rough  boards  for  their  accommodation. 

This  Tabernacle  answered  admirably  for  the  services, 
which  were  arranged  to  suit  the  primitive  state  of  affairs  in 
that  section.  The  priest  appeared  in  the  rostrum  in  his  se- 
cular dress,  and,  after  prayer  and  reading  of  the  Scriptures, 
delivered  a  long  instruction  on  the  Catholic  Church  or  some 
one  of  its  doctrines.  The  preaching,  directed  at  the  conver- 
sion of  the  people,  was  necessarily  simple  in  its  character, 
historical  and  didactic.  Catechisms  and  books  of  instruction 
were  freely  distributed  after  the  sermons.  An  attractive 
feature  of  these  services  was  the  singing,  by  select  voices,  of 
beautiful  hymns.  In  the  beginning,  the  Holy  Mass,  even  on 
Sunday,  was  celebrated  privately.  Strange  that  in  the  19th 
century  the  exclusive  discipline  of  the  Holy  mysteries,  insis- 
ted on  by  the  primitive  Church,  should  be  found  necessary. 
Yet  so  it  was.  It  was  absolutely  necessary  first  to  instruct 
the  people  in  the  doctrines  of  the  faith,  before  the  "mysteries 
of  the  Church,"  with  their  holy  ceremony  and  strange  ritual, 
could  be  fitly  and  profitably  celebrated  in  their  presence. 
The  priest,  at  regular  intervals,  visited  the  people,  and  made 
use  of  books  and  the  zeal  of  the  converts  in  spreading  the 
truth. 

Opposition,  however,  was  encountered.  A  crusade  of  pet- 
ty persecution  was  inaugurated  by  the  Protestant  preachers. 
Joint  meetings  were  held,  revivals  and  conferences,  wherein 
such  coarse  misrepresentation  and  abuse  were  poured  forth, 
as  to  displease  the  honest  country  folk  attending,  and  to  hurt 
seriously  the  influence  of  the  preachers.  In  vain  were  the 
people  advised  against  and  forbidden  to  attend  the  Catholic 


12 

services.  They  came  in  greater  numbers  and  more  eager 
still,  to  compare  the  statements  of  the  Protestant  preachers 
with  the  instructions  to  be  found  in  the  sermons  of  the 
priest  and  in  the  Catholic  books  and  catechisms. 

The  Catholic  movement  daily  gathered  strength  by  the 
accession  of  the  most  respectable  families  in  the  vicinity. 
Within  a  short  time  the  number  of  conversions  warranted 
the  erection  of  a  church  and  school-house.  On  their  comple- 
tion this  apostolic  mission  became  firmly  established,  and 
continues  to  prosper.  Up  to  date  some  two  hundred  souls 
have  been  baptized. 

This  is  but  one  of  the  several  missions  that  have  sprung 
up  in  the  Vicariate.  Another  somewhat  similar  was  started 
by  three  brothers,  Irish  peddlers,  who  settled  in  the  interior. 
The  priest  was  engaged  to  go  a  distance  of  eighty  miles,  to 
baptize  their  children.  Strange!  These  Catholic  men  could 
not  read,  yet  they  became  the  founders  of  a  mission.  Their 
families,  after  proper  instruction,  were  baptized  and  received 
into  the  Fold.  The  country  people  of  the  neighborhood  were 
assembled  and  instructed  ;  and,  finally,  the  Church  of  the 
Good  Shepherd  was  built.  A  Catholic  school  here  rooted 
the  faith  in  the  hearts  of  the  children. 

One  of  the  missionaries  from  this  mission  went  still  fur- 
ther into  the  interior  and  visited  the  "classic"  precinct  of 
Chinquepin,  a  village  in  the  dark  pineries  of  North  Carolina, 
where  live  a  most  primitive  people,  blissfully  ignorant  of  the 
outside  world.  Here  he  met  an  old  Irish  woman  that  had 
not  seen  a  priest  for  forty-five  years.  Her  faith,  she  said,  was 
still  as  fresh  as  the  sod  of  her  native  home,  and  her  prayers, 
embalmed  in  the  old  Irish  tongue,  were  never  forgotten  or 
omitted.  It  seems  that  the  faith  had  been  brought  to  Chin- 
quepin by  a  convert  lady,  who  advised  the  Rev.  Father  of  the 
presence  of  this  good  old  Irish  soul  in  the  back-woods. 
Chinquepin  grew  into  a  mission  of  converts,  with  chapel 
and  school. 

After  my  translation  to  the  See  of  Richmond,  there  was 
inaugurated  in  Wilmington  a  mission-house.  Three  priests, 
the  Rev.  Fathers  Gross,  Moore  and  Wright,  made  the  force. 


13 


Each  one  in  his  turn  travelled  a  distance  of  nearly  three  hun- 
dred miles,  giving  a  month  to  the  out-missions.  Another,  at 
the  same  time,  visited  the  families  of  the  less  distant  places  ; 
whilst  the  third  served  the  flock  at  home.  The  change  of 
life  and  scene  and  labor  was  most  agreeable.  The  mission- 
aries, too,  by  living  together,  gave  support  and  comfort  to 
each  other. 

I  remember  another  instance  of  a  remarkable  conversion. 
I  was  called  on  in  Wilmington  to  marry  a  convert  lady  to  a 
farmer,  who  proved  to  be  a  Baptist  deacon.  This  lady,  on 
going  to  her  new  home,  succeeded,  by  God's  grace,  in  en- 
lightening her  Protestant  husband.  He  embraced  the  Catho- 
lic faith,  and  became  its  zealous  promoter,  being  the  founder 
of  St.  Peter's  mission  and  school. 

I  recall,  with  grateful  memory,  the  faithful  and  efficient 
service,  on  the  eastern  missions,  of  the  Rev.  J.  J.  Reilly,  and 
that  of  the  Rev.  James  B.  White  at  Wilmington,  and  also  at 
Raleigh,  where  he  secured  a  most  valuable  church  property 
at  a  cost  of  nearly  thirty  thousand  dollars,  all  of  which  money 
he  obtained  himself,  at  home  and  abroad,  by  long  and  per- 
sistent effort. 

I  could  not  but  recognize  that  what  artillery  is  in  war- 
fare, schools  and  colleges,under  the  direction  of  religious  men 
and  women,  would  be  in  the  Vicariate,  It  was  a  day  of  re- 
joicing, therefore,  when  I  brought  to  Wilmington  in  1869,  a 
colony  of  Sisters  of  Mercy  from  the  Mother-house  at  Charles- 
ton, South  Carolina.  This  congregation  of  Sisters  had  been 
established  by  Bishop  England,  who  gave  them  the  rule  of 
St.  Vincent,  and  the  religious  dress  of  Mother  Seton.  They 
knew  the  South  from  an  experience  of  fifty  years  in  teaching- 
its  children.  I  considered  that  these  Sisters  would  under- 
stand the  people  and  bear  up  under  our  peculiar  difficulties. 
The  move  was  successful.  The  colony  increased  m  numbers 
and  usefulness,  and  founded  convent  schools  at  Wilmington, 
Hickory  and  Charlotte. 

A  good  general,  in  order  to  make  a  strong  stand  in  the 
country  he  designs  to  hold,  sets  about  establishing  a  well  gar- 
risoned fort.     Spiritually,  I  regarded  in  this  light,  the  foun- 


14 

elation  in  North  Carolina  of  a  Benedictine  Abbey.  I  gave 
the  matter  serious  reflection  and  awaited  the  opportunity. 
Kind  Providence  granted  my  wishes.  It  was  in  1873,  that 
the  Rev.  Dr.  J.  J.  O'Connell,  who  had  retired  after  the  war 
to  his  extensive  farm  near  Charlotte,  whence  he  attended  the 
country  missions,  favorably  discussed  with  me  the  founda- 
tion of  a  Benedictine  College,  I  at  once  besought  the  Ven. 
Rt.  Rev.  Arch  Abbot  Wimmer,  of  St.  Vincent's  Abbey,  Pa., 
for  a  colony  for  the  Vicariate.  Just  at  that  time  a  similar 
petition  had  been  sent  in,  seeking  a  colony  for  a  far  more 
favored  diocese.  It  was  the  true  spirit  of  God  in  this  vener- 
able servant,  that  moved  him  to  choose  the  poorer  Vicariate 
of  North  Carolina.     The  colony  was  sent  to  me. 

It  was  Abbot  Wimmer's  child  from  the  beginning.  To 
make  this  colony  in  North  Carolina  a  success,  nothing  was 
spared,  neither  money,  nor  talent,  nor  subjects.  The  Rev.  Dr. 
O'Connell  having  entered  into  an  agreement  for  the  transfer 
of  his  estate  of  five  hundred  acres  for  the  establishment  of  a 
Priory  and  College,  the  Benedictine  Fathers  and  Brothers 
duly  arrived  and  took  possession.  The  pioneer  Prior  was  the 
Ven.  Fr.  Herman  Wolf  O.  S.  B,,  formerly  a  Lutheran  min- 
ister. He  served  three  years.  His  able  successor  was  the 
Rev.  Placidus  Pilz  O.  S  B.,  who  erected,  under  many  difficul- 
ties, a  commodious  brick  building,  an  important  addition  to 
the  humble  frame  structure  of  Father  Wolf.  For  years  the 
North  Carolina  Benedictine  foundation  struggled  on  under 
every  difficulty.  Its  patronage  had  been  so  small,  expenses 
so  great,  and  the  conviction  of  complete  failure  entertained 
by  so  many,  that  the  question  of  its  further  support  became 
a  topic  of  discussion  in  the  Chapter  of  the  Abbey  in  Pennsyl- 
vania. But  Abbot  Wimmer  did  not  despair.  To  him  the 
cross  was  the  sign  of  ultimate  and  permanent  triumph. 

At  this  juncture  a  number  of  Benedictines{of  St.  Vincent's 
Abbey,)  young  and  full  of  zeal,  volunteered  to  go  to  North 
Carolina,  if  allowed  to  take  with  them  an  abbot  of  their  own 
choice.  Abbot  Wimmer  considered  that  should  the  North 
Carolina  priory  be  erected  into  an  abbey,  it  might  rise  out  of 
its  difficulties  and  prove  a  success.     The  Chapter,  therefore, 


15 


accepted  the  offer,  and  elected  and  sent  forth  the  Rev.  Father 
Leo  Haid  O.  S.  B.,  with  his  volunteers.  Rome  having  con- 
firmed the  action,  Father  Haid  in  the  Pro-Cathedral  in 
Charleston,  South  Carolina,  Nov.  26th  1885  was  consecrated, 
by  Bishop  Northrop,  Abbot  of  Mary-Help  Abbey,  North 
Carolina.     At  the  time  I  was  absent  in  Rome. 

Under  the  zealous  administration  of  its  new  head  St. 
Mary's  College  received  another  life.  In  a  short  time  the 
number  of  students  had  so  grown  that  it  became  necessary 
to  erect  two  extensive  additional  buildings.  God's  blessing 
rested  signally  on  the  College  and  the  new  Abbey.  Those 
who  had  loudly  condemned  the  movement  as  a  foregone 
failure,  were  now  vigorous  in  its  praise.  Abbot  Haid  gave  a 
wise  and  successful  administration,  and  made  himself  worthy 
of  higher  honors.  In  the  council  of  the  Rt.  Rev.  Bishops  of 
the  Province  he  was  chosen  Vicar  Apostolic  of  North  Caro- 
lina, The  Holy  See  having  confirmed  the  choice,  in  1887,  in 
the  Cathedral  at  Baltimore,  he  was  consecrated  to  his  high 
office. 

A  visit  which  I  made  the  same  year  to  Mary-Help  Ab- 
bey, is  one  of  my  most  pleasing  North  Carolina  reminiscences. 
What  a  change  had  taken  place  !  On  the  site  of  the  frame 
tavern,  a  hundred  years  old  and  of  revolutionary  fame,  that 
had  served  as  the  first  shelter  for  the  Benedictine  Fathers, 
now  stood  several  commodious  brick  buildings.  In  the 
midst  of  a  wilderness  had  sprung  up  an  Abbey  and  College, 
a  House  of  Prayer  and  Learning,  and  centre  of  missionary 
zeal.  The  broad  acres  around  were  tilled  by  the  brother- 
hood, those  religious  men,  whose  forefathers  in  the  faith  had 
taught  the  best  art  of  husbandry  to  the  nations  of  Europe. 
I  regarded  this  Abbey  with  unbounded  satisfaction.  In  its 
seminary  I  beheld  the  nursing  mother  of  a  native  Southern 
clergy.  In  the  College  attached,  Southern  youth  were 
offered  a  seat  of  learning  where  they  could  receive  thorough 
christian  education.  My  intimate  knowledge  of  the  poverty 
of  the  past  made  me  keenly  relish  the  richness  of  this  spirit- 
ual foundation.  In  my  judgment,  it  is  most  intimately 
related  to  the  best  interests  of  Catholicity  in  the  south  land. 


16 

With  me,  as  first  Vicar  Apostolic  of  North  Carolina,  the 
primary  difficulty  was  to  get  a  missionary  priest,  the  second 
to  support  him,  the  third  to  provide  for  his  spiritual  comfort. 
For  he  must  needs  go  forth  alone  to  his  distant  work  ;  and 
few  of  them  had  a  home  of  their  own  ;  none,  a  community 
to  which  to  return.  But  now  I  recognized  that  the  Benedic- 
tine Abbey  would  remedy  these  difficulties. 

I  saw,  too,  in  it  the  hand  of  God  for  the  conversion  of  the 
people.  His  Providence,  in  the  line  of  great  works,  is  ever 
the  same.  In  the  past  the  main  instrument  for  the  conversion 
of  nations  ( England,  Germany,  and  Italy,  especially)  was  the 
Benedictine  order.  The  advent  of  the  Benedictines  will 
aid  in  the  conversion  of  the  South.  During  my  visit  I 
learned  that  a  number  of  candidates,  both  for  the  priest- 
hood and  for  the  order,  had  presented  themselves. 

The  work  on  the  Southern  missions  is  humble  and  labor- 
ious, entailing  many  sacrifices.  But  the  faithful  missionary 
is  discharging  the  first  duty  of  his  calling  ( the  endeavor  to 
win  souls,)  and  giving  to  his  Divine  Master  the  smcerest 
proof  of  his  love. 

In  closing  this  hasty  sketch  let  me  emphasize  my  indebt- 
ness  to  the  Very  Rev.  Mark  S.  Gross.  He  was  ordained  in 
1868  for  the  dicoese  of  Baltimore  ;  but,  immediately  after  or- 
dination, volunteered  his  services  for  mission  work  in 
North  Carolina.  He  was  my  fidus  Achates,  ready  for  every 
good  work,  and  loved  and  honored  wherever  known. 

J.  CARD.  GIBBONS, 

Archbishop  of  Baltimore. 
Baltimore,  Feb.  18th,  1891. 


00034004327 

FOR  USE  ONLY  IN 
THE  NORTH  CAROLINA  COLLECTION 


Form  No.  A-368,  Rev.  8/95 


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